TWO LIVES

On Saturday April 30 they closed off the streets around the VFW Hall in my town for a memorial service.  A young man from my town, Army Specialist Jameson Lindskog, was killed in Afghanistan on March 29.  He was 23, the age of my son.  A young man under his command flew in from the Middle East and was hosted by our hotel while he attended the service.

On Sunday May 1 a guest came into the hotel and asked if I had heard the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed.  I spoke out loud my first reaction - it won't change anything.  He seemed surprised by my reaction.  I have been surprised by the reactions of many Americans considering the fact that they call the people of other countries barbaric and sub-human for celebrating American deaths.

And, really, what have all these deaths gotten anyone?  And why are they continuing?  And it isn't just death, is it?  There are nearly 200,000 disabled vets now.  Two Hundred Thousand young people whose lives are forever altered, whose families lives are forever changed no matter how happy they are that their soldier survived.  The suicide rate of vets from these wars is occurring at a rate of 18 per day. 

So we managed to kill Bin Laden.  Hurrah.  What does that change?  We went to war in two countries and he was sitting around in a

third country to which we have been sending millions of dollars that our vets could really use to try to put their lives back together.  Not to mention the people of this country who need jobs and education and health care.

So really, what is it we are celebrating?  Are the wars over?  Is everyone coming home?  Will the military budget be shifted from the industry of war to the needs of those who have served? 

FRIDAY FAST ONES

1.)  I am very disappointed to hear that our military is not actually leaving Iraq.  President Obama has left 50,000 soldiers behind to continue to "train and support Iraq's forces."  This means they will still be not only in harms way, but embarking on combat missions as part of that support.  Which means more deaths and woundings of Americans.  Seven and a half years and counting - How much more money?  How stupid are we to think this is ever going to end well?

2.)  I have been watching Top Chef and Project Runway this summer - not much else is on.  I am really getting tired of the strange decisions of the judges on these shows.  They get rid of people who are good and leave people on for unknowable reasons - well, sometime it is because they are real "characters" and so make "good TV."  I should not look to these shows as reality talent shows, but I was really mad when Top Chef sent Tiffany home on Wednesday.  And making Michael the winner over Mondo on Project Runway was just ridiculous.


3.)  All the hoopla over the allegedly spontaneous and leaderless populist uprising doesn't mention one important thing: the sugar daddies who are bankrolling it, and have been doing so since well before last summer. Rupert Murdoch of Fox News, where both Beck and Palin are on the payroll is one of them. The other two, the brothers David and Charles Koch, are even richer, with a combined wealth exceeded only by that of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett among Americans.

The Koch brothers must be laughing all the way to the bank knowing that working Americans are aiding and abetting their selfish interests.  While Koch foundations donate to cancer hospitals, Koch Industries has been lobbying to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from classifying another product important to its bottom line, formaldehyde, as a “known carcinogen” in humans (which it is).  They were the biggest opponents of Health Care Reform and yet signed up for the first round of  the Government funded  Early Retiree Reinsurance Program under that plan.

Also, Tea Partiers may share the Kochs’ detestation of taxes, big government and Obama. But there’s a difference between mainstream conservatism and a big business centric agenda while dismantling fundamental government safety nets designed to protect the unemployed, public health, workplace safety and care for the elderly.

4.)  I have finally managed to become employed.  I start training on Saturday.  I will be working varied schedules on Saturdays and Sundays and  on Monday nights.  This makes me full time so I will be able to participate in the company benefit package - my husband is happy about that.  I am happy that I will still be able to work with my sister in our new business venture.

Thanks to everyone for putting up with my complaining  and wishing me well all these months!

FRIDAY FAST ONES

1.) Driving behind a big truck with a big bumper sticker "Freedom is Not Free" and it just makes me crazy because these are the same guys that bitch and moan about taxes.

They think war is the way to solve problems and just how do they think money is raised to pay for wars? Corporate sponsorship? Do they think dead and maimed bodies are the only price of war?

With every one of those bumper stickers or tee shirts should come an invoice for the now 1.5 TRILLION dollars spent in Iraq and Afghanistan for our "freedom."

2.) I have a new plan for our financial salvation. At the rate things are going with my job search, I am thinking I have as good a chance of winning the lottery as I do of getting a job.

So I am going to start buying lottery tickets in addition to sending out resumes and going to agencies. I'll keep you posted!

3.) I love the new campaign for Valentine's Day "Love your Sweetheart but breakup with your big bank." The idea is to move your funds, no matter how small, from the big banks - BofA, Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup to smaller local banks, this is a political movement to make banks small enough so that they cannot hold their potential failure, due to their own greedy bad decisions, over our heads.

We did this some years ago and find we have better service and lower charges.

So how does moving my little $900.00 savings account change anything you say? Just like every vote counts, every decline in deposits is missed, even by the big boys. Just think about what even a 10% decline in deposits would mean - and then 20%...Come on everybody - practice some tough love on those banks!